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Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

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Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#1

Post by nikkwong »

I'm at my wits end with big tech platforms. I run a popular photography product company (which was a Kickstarter project in 2014) [0] which gets a lot of love for its ability to help photographers take interesting images.

But I'm continually running into walls with BigTechCos. I'm just coming off the end of having had my Instagram account deleted by Facebook because a graffiti artist and his trolls were able to flag my IG account and left me unable to appeal[1]. 20k followers, 4 years of work gone. My entire customer base is primarily on IG and they are shocked to find that I'm not; so I feel the pain every day and the fact that I'm no longer advertising on FB because of it is a loss-loss in my opinion. Can not explain how upsetting it is for me.

To add insult to injury Amazon randomly delisted my product. I randomly received an email that they removed me [2]. I checked the listing and saw that a customer had left a bad review. I went to contact that customer [3] and saw that the seller in that instance wasn't me, it was Adorama, a retailer who sells the product I created. I figured this was the sale that got my account flagged, so I responded trying to explain that I sell an OEM product so I wouldn't sell anything used/broken[4]. They then respond that my response is not sufficient[5]. I then decide to give them what they want, contact my manufacturer, come up with a plan [6]. Pretty long, with evidence, a spreadsheet, and even more detailed notes at the end of the email.

Today they've just gotten back to me saying they refuse to reinstate it and that I'm shit out of luck [7]. I am livid at this point. What else did they want? And if they weren't going to reinstate me in the first place, why not just say that? According to my account dashboard my account is in perfect 'health'[8] and there is absolutely no indication that there is anything wrong. I feel like I am being trolled.

It feels so perverse because I live in Seattle so I am always rooting for Amazon. Now, after having finally taken the leap and quit my job and started a company that's beginning to do well, the companies that I've always applauded are totally screwing up my business and leaving me stranded with no options. Not even a customer support number. I don't typically get stressed but the helplessness in the hands of these companies has been keeping me up at night. I feel the stress.

Does anyone have any ideas of what I could do? I live in Seattle so are there any offices or people I could try reasoning with in person? And also if anyone can tell me what I did wrong. If anyone has any information that could be useful I would seriously appreciate it because this is quite literally my livelihood and my entire life.

Thank you for reading. Also sorry for the rant; I am not usually so forthcoming; the entire situation though, is just so dis-empowering.

Edit: here is also the product listing in question [9]

[0] https://www.getfractals.com

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19166053

[2] https://imgur.com/a/aQLThvj

[3] https://imgur.com/a/xm8dAoI

[4] https://imgur.com/a/8biKZlT

[5] https://imgur.com/a/ZSVz7vn

[6] https://imgur.com/a/IZgOfuA

[7] https://imgur.com/a/j81rJyk

[8] https://imgur.com/a/dP11fCc

[9] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OHD49R6?ref=myi_title_dp

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#2

Post by nikkwong »

It feels so perverse because I live in Seattle so I am always rooting for Amazon. Now, after having finally taken the leap and quit my job and started a company that's beginning to do well, the companies that I've always applauded are totally screwing up my business and leaving me stranded with no options. Not even a customer support number. I don't typically get stressed but the helplessness in the hands of these companies has been keeping me up at night. I feel the stress.

Does anyone have any ideas of what I could do? I live in Seattle so are there any offices or people I could try reasoning with in person? And also if anyone can tell me what I did wrong. If anyone has any information that could be useful I would seriously appreciate it because this is quite literally my livelihood and my entire life.

Thank you for reading. Also sorry for the rant; I am not usually so forthcoming; the entire situation though, is just so dis-empowering.

Edit: here is also the product listing in question [9]

[0] https://www.getfractals.com [1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=19166053 [2] https://imgur.com/a/aQLThvj [3] https://imgur.com/a/xm8dAoI [4] https://imgur.com/a/8biKZlT [5] https://imgur.com/a/ZSVz7vn [6] https://imgur.com/a/IZgOfuA [7] https://imgur.com/a/j81rJyk [8] https://imgur.com/a/dP11fCc [9] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OHD49R6?ref=myi_title_dp

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#4

Post by nikkwong »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #3

Unfortunately, your best bet is to hope this gets enough attention here that an Amazon employee on some higher level happens to see it. This is more or less the case with a lot of these tech companies right now. You have my upvotes, hope it helps.

Thank you so much. Unicode alone can not allow me to truly express how much just having someone even listen to me means. Thank you.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#5

Post by qohen »

nikkwong wrote: post #4
ocdtrekkie wrote: post #3

Unfortunately, your best bet is to hope this gets enough attention here that an Amazon employee on some higher level happens to see it. This is more or less the case with a lot of these tech companies right now. You have my upvotes, hope it helps.

Thank you so much. Unicode alone can not allow me to truly express how much just having someone even listen to me means. Thank you.

FYI, in case it helps, there are many accounts online of people emailing jeff@amazon.com and getting a helpful response (though not necessarily from Jeff Bezos himself). Obviously, it's not guaranteed, but, if you've tried everything else, perhaps it's worth a shot.

In any case, good luck.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#6

Post by nikkwong »

ocdtrekkie wrote: post #3

Unfortunately, your best bet is to hope this gets enough attention here that an Amazon employee on some higher level happens to see it. This is more or less the case with a lot of these tech companies right now. You have my upvotes, hope it helps.

Also to further your point into existential territory. I remember hearing Elizabeth Warren saying her plan was to break up BigTechCo's and thinking to myself about how ridiculous it is and how she's totally pointing her guns in the wrong direction. But after these events and some reflection; it's true. These companies are clearly only accountable to themselves leaving everyone else to go f* themselves. Consumers may win in the short term with the low prices that commerce conglomerate Amazon can offer, but I think the long run; retail death will only further widen income gaps and continue to tear our country's social fibers further apart.

I feel like I did everything I could to be on the correct side of this economic gamble; having worked for a few BigTechCo's; studying, training hard, teaching myself to code. But still, they don't even treat me right. It's like they're accountable to no one. They are more and moreso becoming public enemy #1 and I feel like that's a position for which they are totally deserving.

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#7

Post by nikkwong »

qohen wrote: post #5
nikkwong wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you so much. Unicode alone can not allow me to truly express how much just having someone even listen to me means. Thank you.

FYI, in case it helps, there are many accounts online of people emailing jeff@amazon.com and getting a helpful response (though not necessarily from Jeff Bezos himself). Obviously, it's not guaranteed, but, if you've tried everything else, perhaps it's worth a shot. In any case, good luck.

Thank you kindly for the idea, Qohen. I will give it a shot. I just wrote a rather nasty comment about Amazon on this thread but hopefully whoever reads it may understand the sentiment. :)

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#8

Post by qohen »

nikkwong wrote: post #7
qohen wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FYI, in case it helps, there are many accounts online of people emailing jeff@amazon.com and getting a helpful response (though not necessarily from Jeff Bezos himself). Obviously, it's not guaranteed, but, if you've tried everything else, perhaps it's worth a shot. In any case, good luck.

Thank you kindly for the idea, Qohen. I will give it a shot. I just wrote a rather nasty comment about Amazon on this thread but hopefully whoever reads it may understand the sentiment. :)

If you write a nice email -- perhaps not referring to this thread -- I expect one could hope for a decent outcome. :-)

(You're welcome for the idea and, again, good luck).

Re: Ask HN: Amazon delisted me – what do I do?

#9

Post by nikkwong »

qohen wrote: post #8
nikkwong wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you kindly for the idea, Qohen. I will give it a shot. I just wrote a rather nasty comment about Amazon on this thread but hopefully whoever reads it may understand the sentiment. :)

If you write a nice email -- perhaps not referring to this thread -- I expect one could hope for a decent outcome. :-) (You're welcome for the idea and, again, good luck).

Ah yeah, that's probably true. Thank you again so much.
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